Hulu Plus Pushes Apple TV to Higher Levels of Cord-Cutting

Apple TV owners woke up to a surprise this morning: Hulu Plus is now built-in. The streaming TV and movie service shows up as an additional app in the Apple TV interface, and could be the first of many new services to appear on Apple’s “hobby.”

It was a smart move for Hulu to bring its cord-cutting service directly to the Apple TV. As we showed you last week, the AirPlay Mirroring feature in Apple’s new desktop OS, Mountain Lion, makes it incredibly easy to stream Hulu content from a Mac to an Apple TV, and then straight to an HDTV. But now that Hulu Plus is built directly into Apple TV, users may be more inclined to forgo the desktop mirroring scheme, however easy it may be. And, of course, every new Hulu Plus customer tosses an $8 monthly subscription payment in Hulu’s direction.

The Hulu Plus app currently resides next to the Netflix app in the Apple TV U.I., but that could change as the next iteration of the Apple TV OS (iOS 6 by any other name) reportedly features the ability to rearrange apps like we can on the iPhone and iPad.

Hulu Plus on the Apple TV. Photo Hulu

No matter where you decide to put the app in the future, the new streaming service does close some TV-viewing gaps on Apple TV. While Netflix does offer streaming TV shows, they’re never current episodes — you have to wait until an entire season is complete before recent episodes become available. In contrast, Hulu Plus provides access to many network shows the day after they air. Also, Hulu Plus has a great movie collection, including the Criterion Collection of film classics. It’s a must-have for cinema buffs. That said, Hulu Plus isn’t without its problems.

The $8 monthly subscription includes “limited advertisements” during shows. This is something you never see on Netflix. Also, some TV shows have web-only rights. It’s not that big of a deal if you have a compatible Mac with AirPlay, but it’s frustrating when you’re trying watch to USA’s Burn Notice or White Collar on a device linked to a Hulu Plus account.

Also relevant to note: You can tie your Hulu Plus account to your iTunes account. Like Apple’s deal with Netflix, the Hulu Plus subscription could net Apple a percentage of subscription fees. With an additional revenue stream coming from the Apple TV and a slew of rumored features including a dedicated app store possibly on the horizon, Apple could be ready to move its Apple TV out of “hobby” status, and push it as a full-fledged cord-cutting product with more generous streaming services built-in.

It wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility for Sony Pictures’ Crackle streaming service or Vudu’s rental service to appear in the Apple TV next. Apps for both services appear in the App Store. Less likely would be Amazon’s Instant Video service. Amazon doesn’t have an Instant Video app for iOs or Android, and reserves the service for its own Kindle Fire, TiVo and select smart TVs.